This is the season of the year when most of the dwellers in large cities consider it advisable for reasons of health to spend at least some time in the country. Of course, the main reason for the flitting is vacation and rest rather than the desire for the country, but there is no doubt that most people consider that living in the country is much more healthful than city dwelling. There is a very curious commentary on this general impression in the special report on the statistics of mortality for the five years, 1900 to 1904, which has recently been issued by the census bureau of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor. The average yearly death rate during this period in cities of 8,000 or more population was 17.8 per thousand, while in the country it was 14.3 per thousand. This would seem a distinctly marked difference,